The Netherlands took Europe's last finals berth after seeing off Denmark and Switzerland in the play-offs.

The United States beat the Netherlands to retain the trophy in Lyon while Sweden pipped England to bronze.

Students are learning how to research and write scripts, hone interviewing techniques, and edit video footage, and some teenagers are even earning certifications in media technology.

Have you noticed that the Internet is changing the world into a

Political power is a slippery thing. Even in an absolute monarchy, it can get away from you with one wrong move.

Tinashe disciples and shows Zimbabweans that they, too, are called to serve; everyone can share their own stories with others to show the love of Christ. 

Tinashe disciples and shows Zimbabweans that they, too, are called to serve; everyone can share their own stories with others to show the love of Christ. 

Katie Marshall, Penn State World Campus mental health case manager, connects students learning online to resources in their own communities.

As part of Penn State's 2020 spring commencement activities, Matthew Solovey will represent the College of the Liberal Arts as its World Campus student marshal.

Online learners at Penn State have elected 10 leaders to the World Campus Student Government Association to serve in the 2020-21 school year.

I was just sitting down to write this week's column when the Red Arrows flew right over my head.

Cesar Gomes Victora
Mar 1, 2010; 125:e473-e480
ARTICLES

"This is a very values-oriented generation—they seek to work with purpose and passion, and without that, they'll leave," an education leader at Microsoft said about Generation Z teachers.

LG is skipping the event, citing the travel restrictions from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. However, the GSMA still plans on holding the annual tech show, saying the outbreak has caused 'minimal impact' so far.

Four Penn State World Campus energy and sustainability policy majors spent the year working with Pennsylvania boroughs to inventory greenhouse gas emissions, and coming up with climate action plans for reducing them.

A supercell thunderstorm pelted a city center in Argentina a few years ago with hailstones so large scientists suggested a new category to describe them — gargantuan hail.

Susan Brantley, director of the Earth and Environmental System Institute, and Lee Kump, John Leone Dean in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, will lead a panel discussion on the future of energy education at 4 p.m. Monday, May 18, via Zoom.

Portgual's A Bola gave every player ten out of ten, L'Équipe were "devasted" and Cristiano Ronaldo was naturally a focus: we round up the world media reaction to the final.

As armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere continued to inflict much suffering and instability around the world, the heads of the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross issued an unprecedented joint warning about the impact of today’s conflicts on civilians and called on states to redouble their efforts to find sustainable solutions to conflicts. Welcoming the call to action, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, President & CEO of the International Crisis Group, said: “It is imperative that the world do much more to respond to early warning signs and prevent wars breaking out in the first place”.

November saw further military escalation and setbacks in Syria, particularly after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane it claimed had violated its airspace. Meanwhile, several countries faced extremist attacks claimed by the Islamic State (IS), including in Lebanon, France and Bangladesh. Violence also rose in Turkey between the state and Kurdish insurgents. In Venezuela, political tensions and violence increased ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 6 December and could worsen, while both Nepal and Kosovo faced deepening political crises. In a positive step forward, Burkina Faso and Myanmar experienced peaceful and openly-contested elections last month.

The month saw an intensification of deadly violence in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, with over 80 people killed following clashes with security forces. The African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC) made a welcome statement of intent to deploy forces to halt the slide toward civil war and mass atrocities. In Afghanistan, fighting raged between government and Taliban forces, particularly in Helmand province, while in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Niger, political tensions heightened. In a positive step forward, a peace deal was signed in Libya but uncertainties remain over the viability of the agreement. As stressed by Jean-Marie Guéhenno, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group, in today’s Ten Conflicts to Watch in 2016, it “should be seen as a beginning, not an end, to the peace process”.

The month saw an intensification of Yemen’s war, amid heightened regional rivalries between Saudi Arabia and Iran complicating prospects for peace. Political tensions increased in Haiti, Guinea-Bissau and Moldova, where protests over endemic corruption and a lack of confidence in the government could escalate. In Africa, Boko Haram’s deadly attacks increased in northern Cameroon, and Burkina Faso was hit by an unprecedented terror attack. On the nuclear front, in East Asia, North Korea’s announcement that it had carried out a successful hydrogen bomb test was roundly condemned, while nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were rolled back in accordance with the July 2015 deal.

The month saw conflict continue to rage in Turkey’s south east between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), looking likely to further escalate in March. Afghanistan and Somalia both saw armed insurgencies capture new territories. In Africa, political tensions rose in Chad, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, while in Venezuela, deadlock between the opposition-held parliament and government has brought the country closer to political and economic implosion. In Asia, North Korea’s announcement of a satellite launch in violation of UN Security Council resolutions prompted international condemnation and calls for tough new sanctions. On a positive note, the coming month brings the possibility of a final agreement to end Colombia’s decades-old insurgency.

The month saw violent extremist movements, including the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda-linked groups, carry out major deadly attacks in Turkey, Pakistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia and Belgium. In Libya, the arrival of Prime Minister Serraj in Tripoli despite warnings from multiple factions could lead to further destabilisation. Meanwhile in Central Africa, political violence rose in Burundi and could break out in Chad around the 10 April presidential election. Yemen, South Sudan and even Syria saw progress, of varying degrees, toward peace talks or implementation of agreements, and in Colombia the start of talks between the state and the National Liberation Army (ELN) could lead to the end of the 52-year-old conflict.

The month saw fighting escalate again in Syria and Afghanistan, and erupt in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenian-backed separatists and Azerbaijani forces. In Bangladesh, election violence and killings by extremist groups showed how new heights of government-opposition rivalry and state repression have benefitted violent political party wings and extremist groups alike. Political tensions intensified in Iraq and Macedonia, and security forces severely supressed opposition protests in the Republic of Congo and Gambia. On a positive note, new governments were formed in the Central African Republic and South Sudan to consolidate peace gains, and talks to end Yemen’s one-year-old civil war got underway, albeit later than planned.

The month saw Venezuela’s political, economic and humanitarian crisis worsen amid heightened tensions between the government and opposition, a situation which could lead to state collapse and regional destabilisation. Another major setback in electing a new president in Haiti prompted fears of further civil unrest. In West Africa, deadly violence in central Mali and south-east Nigeria spiked, while a power struggle in Guinea-Bissau led to a dangerous standoff. In Libya, factions for and against the fledgling Government of National Accord (GNA) advanced on Sirte to expel the Islamic State (IS), risking clashes over oil facilities, while Turkey saw heightened political polarisation and an increase in violence in Kurdish areas. Ongoing peace talks, despite slow progress and ongoing violence, remain the best chance to end major combat in Yemen.

The month saw Venezuela’s political, economic and humanitarian crisis worsen amid heightened tensions between the government and opposition, a situation which could lead to state collapse and regional destabilisation. Another major setback in electing a new president in Haiti prompted fears of further civil unrest. In West Africa, deadly violence in central Mali and south-east Nigeria spiked, while a power struggle in Guinea-Bissau led to a dangerous standoff. In Libya, factions for and against the fledgling Government of National Accord (GNA) advanced on Sirte to expel the Islamic State (IS), risking clashes over oil facilities, while Turkey saw heightened political polarisation and an increase in violence in Kurdish areas. Ongoing peace talks, despite slow progress and ongoing violence, remain the best chance to end major combat in Yemen.

The Japanese company is building the 'Woven City' in 2021, which will be used to test robotics, personal mobility, smart homes and artificial intelligence in a real-world environment populated by 2000 of its employees and researchers.

Tinashe disciples and shows Zimbabweans that they, too, are called to serve; everyone can share their own stories with others to show the love of Christ. 

Tinashe disciples and shows Zimbabweans that they, too, are called to serve; everyone can share their own stories with others to show the love of Christ. 

An OMer encounters a French woman who converted to Islam but misunderstands both Islam and the Christian faith.

Seven universities are making major changes to how they train future principals, as part of $48.5 million Wallace Foundation initiative to redesign university-based principal-preparation programs, according to a new report from RAND.

Tinashe disciples and shows Zimbabweans that they, too, are called to serve; everyone can share their own stories with others to show the love of Christ. 

By Bishop Arthur Serratelli

Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher who lived four centuries before Christ, proposed the scientific theory of horror vacui. Based on his observations, he concluded that nature fills every empty space with something, even if it is only air. In his works Gargantua and Pantagruel, the Renaissance priest, doctor and scientist Rabelais popularized this idea with the phrase Natura abhorret vacuum (“nature abhors a vacuum”). Where there is a void, either mass or energy rushes in to occupy the empty space. In truth, this theory applies not merely to physics, but to life.

For the last thirty years, the secularization of culture and the banishing of God from the public forum have created a great religious void. More and more Americans have been abandoning the practice of religion. Since 1990, the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has tripled from eight percent to twenty-two percent. 

Today there are about five million fewer mainline Protestants and three million fewer Catholics than there were ten years ago. For every new convert to Catholicism, six others leave the Church. Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 are much less interested in religion than their parents. As Alan Cooperman, the director of religion research for the Pew Research Center, has observed, “the country is becoming less religious as a whole, and it’s happening across the board.”

Nonetheless, the human person is innately religious. More than just being a material creature on the same level as irrational animals, the human person has reason and is always in search of meaning. “Nature abhors a vacuum.” And, so into the void created by abandoning religion as a source of meaning, other forms of discovering meaning have rushed in. 

In an attempt to respond to the spiritual dimension of human life, some people are turning to New Age beliefs. New Age adherents, now nearly one-fourth of the population, have replaced the personal God of revelation with a spiritual energy that animates the cosmos. They are making use of crystals, tarot cards, astrology, psychics, and even yoga as a spiritual exercise to tap into this impersonal energy in order to manage their lives and find self-fulfillment. 

For New Age adherents, there is no absolute truth. All beliefs are of equal value. And, since they deny the existence of sin, they do not accept the need for a Redeemer. At best, New Age adherents trade the transcendental for the immanent, the spiritual for the physical. At worse, they reject God and unwittingly fall into the hands of the Adversary. 

And, then there are others who reject God and consciously choose to turn to one form or another of the occult. It is astounding to realize that there are almost 1.5 million people who are involved in Wicca, a pagan form of witchcraft. Ever since the Garden of Eden and our first parents’ sin of attempting to be like God, people have been looking for ways to have the same knowledge and power as God himself. Today there are more witches than Presbyterians, more people involved in the occult than there are Muslims in the United States. 

The more individuals extol themselves as self-sufficient and exalt reason over faith, they turn from God and enthrone Satan. Attempting to control their lives through the use of the occult, they hand themselves over to Satan who uses them to destroy the peace and harmony God plans for us. Satan is the great deceiver. He makes people believe that they have absolute control of their lives. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “[Satan’s] logic is simple: if there is no heaven there is no hell; if there is no hell, then there is no sin; if there is no sin, then there is no judge, and if there is no judgment, then evil is good and good is evil.”

It would be foolish to close our eyes to the unmistakable increase of the devil’s activity in our society. Lack of civility. Hate speech. The tearing down of people’s good name. The blood shed on our streets. The breakdown of family life. The widespread extolling of vices contrary to the gospel. The delight in exposing the sins of others. Abuse in all its forms. Abortion. The persecution of the Church. All these are born of anger, hatred, envy, pride, greed and lust. They cause division and are the fingerprints of the Evil One.

On the day after his election to the papacy, Pope Francis shocked the cardinals who had placed him on the Chair of Peter. He said, “Whoever does not pray to God, prays to the devil. When one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil.” The Pope courageously acknowledged the reality of Satan that day and many other times thereafter. And the Pope provided the only way to banish the devil from our midst: professing faith in Jesus. Professing our faith means quite simply staying close to Jesus within the Church, attending Mass at least each Sunday and Holy Day, receiving the sacraments and practicing charity. In other words, the only permanent antidote to evil in the world is the presence of God who leaves in us no room for evil.

Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Serbia and Russia all topped their groups unbeaten and the Czech Republic and Portugal also progressed to ensure all seven European sides made the last 16.

Colombia has been selected to stage the eighth FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2016 with Bogota, Villavicencio, Bucaramanga, Cucuta, Ibaque and Neiva proposed as the host cities.

Spain will travel to the Netherlands as they begin their bid to win a third title while debutants Denmark and Wales will meet after the preliminary and main round draws were made.

Moldova, Sweden, France, Latvia, England and Finland won through from the FIFA Futsal World Cup preliminary round to join the top teams in December's main round.

Two-time winners Spain will contest the play-offs for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup along 13 other sides, with ten of the 12 UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 finalists through in total.

Two-time FIFA Futsal World Cup winners Spain will meet Slovenia for a place in the 2016 tournament in Colombia while Serbia are rematched with Portugal in the play-off draw.

Just over a month on from UEFA Futsal EURO 2016, Europe's finest are back in action in the FIFA Futsal World Cup play-offs with Serbia facing Portugal again.

Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Portugal and Slovenia, who surprisingly defeated Spain 1-0, were the winners in the play-off first legs. Returns on 12/13 April.

Azerbaijan have earned a FIFA Futsal World Cup debut after they, Italy, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Ukraine came through their play-offs to reach the finals.

Ukraine will take on holders Brazil while European champions Spain have again been matched with Iran in the draw for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup final tournament.

Portugal, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Spain are representing Europe in the FIFA Futsal World Cup: we look at the challengers in Colombia.

Europe's representatives Portugal, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Spain all secured top-two finishes in the group stage to reach the last 16.

Argentina beat Russia 5-4 despite three Eder Lima goals in a meeting of two first-time finalists in Colombia while Portugal were pipped to bronze by Iran.

Tinashe disciples and shows Zimbabweans that they, too, are called to serve; everyone can share their own stories with others to show the love of Christ. 

With schools shut down, social distancing in place, and parents at home, after-school programs are laying off staff and switching gears to meet families' needs.

Belgium, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Spain have won their groups to join Russia in the finals, with the eight play-off teams now also confirmed.